Discovery's Payload Arrives at the Launch Pad

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:14:49 PM GMT+0530

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the canister carrying the payload for space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission to the International Space Station made its way to Launch Pad 39A in the predawn darkness this morning, arriving at 2:51 a.m. EDT. The canister will be installed in the pad's payload changeout room, and its contents, including the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, is set to be transferred to Discovery's cargo bay on March 24.

During the upcoming weekend, crews at the launch pad will perform additional tests on Discovery's right reaction control system helium regulators. Engineers will evaluate the data and discuss options Tuesday morning.

At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, STS-131 astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson will rehearse techniques for the mission's third spacewalk in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab's huge tank.